HB2 Replacement No Deal for Some

CHARLOTTE, NC — The ACC will reconsider hosting championships in North Carolina after the repeal of House Bill Two.

The ACC basketball tournament could come to Charlotte as early as 2019.

While this bill may be enough for sports organizations, members of the LGBT community expect to plan protests.

It’s a deal Lara Americo calls painful.

“It’s painful to have sports being prioritized over the lives of people like me,” said Americo.

Americo is a transgender activist who rallied in Raleigh to stop House Bill 142. It’s the compromise bill designed to bring business back to North Carolina. It repeals House Bill Two, no longer dictating which bathroom people who are transgender can use.

“At the same time, there’s no affirmative protection for folks that are using the bathroom,” said Kevin Murphy.

“Federal law says you may not discriminate against someone based on their sex,” said Murphy. “That has been interpreted by many courts to mean sexual orientation.”

Americo sends a message to companies considering coming back to North Carolina: It’s not a bathroom issue, it’s a equal rights issue.

“All transgender people want is to live a normal life,” said Americo.

Murphy also pointed out HB2 only gave you one year to sue an employer for discrimination. This new law brings that back up to three years

By: Courtney Francisco

Kevin P. Murphy

Kevin P. Murphy comes to Van Kampen Law from Littler Mendelson, consistently recognized as the nation’s leading management-side labor and employment firm. During his years with Littler, Kevin represented the nation’s largest employers in discrimination, retaliation, harassment, wage and hour, labor, and non-competition litigation, in both class action and individual cases. Kevin has taken several of these cases to trial before federal and state courts, while securing the dismissal of others through motion practice. Kevin also successfully resolved many other cases through formal and informal mediation and represented employers in federal and state agency investigations.